High-Power Fiber-Coupled Photo-conductive Antennas
Menlo Systems present their novel TERA15-HP-TX high-power fiber-coupled broadband terahertz (THz) antennas in their TERA15 series, thereby setting the benchmark for efficiency and performance in the THz industry. The newly engineered antenna modules achieve record performance levels of more than 300 µW average generated THz power, more than 6 THz bandwidth, and over 110 dB dynamic range. The TERA15-HP-TX modules represent a new era in THz spectroscopy and imaging, enabling unprecedented flexibility and durability required to meet stringent industrial demands.
The most recent technological innovation by Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) utilized in these modules is based on highly-optimized In-GaAs/InAlAs multi-layered mesa structures. These structures feature a wide photoconductive gap, permitting them to accommodate a bias voltage of 200 V and at minimum 50 mW optical input power at 100 MHz pulse repetition rate.
The largely enhanced THz power, combined with the improved signal-to-noise ratio, enable the THz characterization of strongly absorbing samples and the enhancement of imaging contrast, such as relevant for applications in biological or medical imaging, and in the depth profiling of thicker material layers.
The TERA15-HP-TX antennas are ideally suited for operation by transimpedance amplifiers (soon to be manufactured in-house by Menlo Systems) for further improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio. The new antennas are available as stand-alone components, are fully compatible with other Menlo Systems’ THz-TDS systems, and may be readily retrofitted to systems al-ready in use upon request.